Locking pliers with wire cutter



y 1965 .J. z. BUCKLEY ETAL LOCKING PLIERS WITH WIRE CUTTER Filed Aug. 17, 1962 .2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 3

FIG. 4

FIG. 2

JOHN Z. BUCKLEY OSCAR H. JOHNSON May 4, 1965 J. z. BUCKLEY ETAL LOCKING PLIERS WITH WIRE CUTTER .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 17, 1962 FIG.

r d w Q JOHN Z. BUCKLEY OSCAR H. JOHNSON INVENTORS %VV% W FIG.

United States Patent C) 3,181,181 LOCKTNG PLIERS WITH WEE CUTTER John Z. Buckley, Worcester, and Oscar H. Johnson, Holden, Mass assignors to Parker Mfg. Company, Worcester, Mass, at corporadon of Massachusetts Filed Aug. 17, 1962, Ser. No. 217,619 1 laim. (Ql. 75.6)

This invention relates to locking pliers and more particularly to apparatus arranged to perform the dual function of grasping articles or cutting wire.

In manufacturing pliers, it is common practice to provide a means for cutting wire, the most common construction using a slot in one element of the pliers and a cutting edge formed on the other part of the pliers to move across the slot. However, the ditiiculty experienced quite often is that, because the two elements of the pliers are held together by a pivot pin or rivet, the lateral pressures tending to separate the two elements during the cutting of wire, eventually causes these parts to be loosened on the pivot. This means that, instead of the wire being cut cleanly, it is bent and, even if cutting takes place, the cut is not a clean one. Furthermore, in devices of this kind, it is quite often difficult to obtain sufficient leverage between the two plier parts to cut heavy gauges of wire.

Applying wire cutting attachments to pliers and particularly those of the self-adjusting locking type has been very expensive and this added expense has discouraged its use. These and other difiiculties of the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide pliers having wire cutting means which will not result in the destruction of the pliers when used for an extended period of time or with wire of heavy gauge.

Another object of this invention is the provision of pliers having a wire cutting means which is inexpensive to produce and requires no substantial modification of present plier designs.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of pliers having a wire cutting means which is efficient in use and which does not require extreme strength in cutting wires of heavy gauge.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide pliers having wire cutting means which will not damage either end of the wire being cut, so that a clean cut is made and the remaining lengths of wire adjacent the cut remain unmarred.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

The character of the invention, however, may be best understood by reference to certain of its structural forms as illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of pliers making use of the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of the pliers taken on the line 11-11 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the pliers showing a stage of wire cutting action;

FIG. 4 is a view of a portion of the pliers;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of the pliers;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a portion of the pliers; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of part of the pliers taken on the line VlI-V]I of FIG. 6.

Referring first to FIG. 1, wherein are best shown the general features of the invention, the pliers, indicated by by the reference numeral 16, are shown as being pro- Fatented May 4, 1%65 ice vided with an elongated handle 11. This handle is formed from sheet metal to provide a U-shaped cross-section with two parallel spaced flanges 12 and 13. Welded between the flangesat one end of the handle 11 is a fixed jaw 14 having a reinforced, serrated gripping area 15. Also located between the flanges 12 and 13 is a pivoted member 16 having a reinforced serrated gripping area 17. The handle 11 and the pivoted member 16 arejoined by a rivet 18 which provides for the pivotal action. The pivoted member 16 is provided with flat, parallel surfaces which are closely embraced by the flanges 12 and 13, as is best evident in FIG. 2.

The pivoted member 16 is biased by a spring 26 to a position in which the gripping areas 15 and 17 are widely separated. Also attached to the pivot member is a lever 19 which, in turn, is connected to the handle 11 by a connecting link 21. A release lever 22 is pivoted to the central portion of the lever 21. These elements make up a self-adjusting locking type .plier like that shown and described in the patent of Waterbury No. Reissue 24,465. The adjustment of the linkages for the selflocking feature is performed by means of a screw 23 located at the lower end of the handle 19.

As is evident in the drawings, the upper end of the handle 11 is enlarged and the flanges 12 and 13 are provided with curved outer edges 24 and 25, respectively. Entering the edge 24 of the flange 12 adjacent the fixed jaw 14 is a slot 26. The slot is provided with elongated straight side edges which terminate at their inner ends in a semi-circular edge. The centerlineof the slot is at an angle of around 45 to the length of the handle .11. A similar slot 27 enters the edge 25 of the flange, but this slot is substantially'wider than the slot 26, as is evident in the dotted line showing in FIG. 1. The centerline of the slot 27 is co-extensive with the centerline of the slot 26 so that the added width of the slot 27 extends on either side of the projection of the slot 26 on the flange 13. The edge of the pivoted member 16 close to the slots 26 and 27 is formed with a semi-circular concaveedge 28. This edge is preferably ground to provide a sharp, clean cutting edge between the edge 28 and the surface of the pivoted member 16 which slides along the inner surface of the flange 13 of the handle, this sliding taking place across the 'slot 26. The semi-circular edge 28 is located in such a way relative to the rivet 18 and the slot 26 that as the pivoted member 16 moves toward the handle or counter-clockwise in FIG. 1 about the rivet 18, the deepest part of the edge 28 enters the slot 26 last, as will be explained further hereinafter.

The operation of the pliers will now be readily understood in view of the above description. In order to grasp articles between the gripping areas 15 and 17, it is only necessary to grasp the handle 11 and the lever 19 and squeeze them together. This causes the pivoted member 16 to move counter-clockwise to bring the gripping areas 15 and 17 together about the article to be grasped. The locking feature permits the jaws to lock on the article with considerable force and then it is not necessary thereafter to grasp the pliers tightly in order to hold the article. In order to release the article, it is only necessary to strike the release lever 22.

If it is desired to cut a piece of wire, the wire is inserted between the fixed jaw 14 and the pivoted member 16 and into the slots 26 and 27. The portion which is to be cut is brought into registry with the inner edge of the slot 26. Then the lever 19 is squeezed toward the handle 11. This causes the pivoted member 16 to move toward the handle and the edge 28 moves toward the slots. The wire 29 lies in the bottom of the slot 26. As the edge 28 approaches the nearest edge of the slot, the bottom part of the curve of the edge 23 strikes the wire first and cams it upwardly along the far edge of the slot as. Eventually,

the wire and the edge 28 FIG. 3 where the wire is lifted clear of the bottom of the slot and pressed against the straight side edge of the slot; it is in this condition that the cutting takes place. It is evident that cutting will take place onlybetweenthe slot 26 and the corner of the edge 28 closely adjacent thereto. There will be no cutting between the opposite corner of the edge 28 and the slot 27. This is because the slot27 is so much larger than the slot 26 and because there is room for cutting to take place in the slot- 26 without it also taking place in the slot 27. Nevertheless, as is best evident in FIG. 2, the pivoted member 16 is supported on both sides by the inner surfaces of the flanges 12 and 13 so that, even though lateral forces exist between the wire 29, the slot 26, and the edge 28, there will be no spreading of the elements. Because of the fact that the wire is located along a straight edge of the slot 26 when being cut and is engaged by the center portionof the edge 28, a smooth, even cut takes placed with a minimum of distortion of the cut end of the wire.

In FIG. isshown a modification of the invention. The pliers 30 are shown as consisting of a handle 31 which is formed of sheet metal which has been folded in a forming machine to provide side flanges 32 and 33. A fixed jaw 34 is welded to the upper end of thehandle 31 and is provided with a serrated gripping area 35. Attached to the handle is a pivoted member 36 connected to the handle by a rivet 33 and having a gripping area 37. A lever 39 is pivotally connected to the pivoted member 36 while a connecting link 41 joins the lever 39 to the handle 31. A spring biases the pivoted member to open position and a release lever 42 is pivotally attached to the center of the connecting lever 41. A self-locking feature of the device is adjustable by a screw 43 at the lower end of the handle. The flanges 32 and 33 are enlarged at the upper portion of the handle to provide curved outer edges 44 and 45; The slot 26 enters the edge 44 of the flange 32 while a wider slot 47 enters the edge 45 of the flange 33. These slots extend inwardly of the edges at an angle in the order of 20 to a line extending transversely of the'handle 21.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, it can be seen that the pivoted member 36 is provided on its upper edge with a straight edge 48 which extends from closely adjacent the gripping area 37 to adjacent the rivet 38. A considerable portion of this edge 48 is provided with a relief 49 wherein part of the straight edge surface has been ground away reach the condition shown in a to provide for a cutting edge 50. This edge is not a prefeetly sharp knife edge but is provided with a very' narrow land to give the cutting area strength' The method of operating with this second version of the pliers is very similar to that used in the first case. With the pliers in open condition, the wire is dropped into the slots 46 and 47 and the lever 39 is pressed toward the handle 31. The edge 48 passes along the inner surface edges of the slot 46 particularly the part thereof within the relief 49. The angularity of the edge 43 to the longitui dinal direction of the handle 31 is much less than of the centerline of the slots 46 and 47 so that the wire is pushed toward the bottom of the slot 46 and when it is trapped in the inner semi-circular end thereof where it is cut by the knife edge 50. In a manner similar to that described in connection with the'modification of FIG; 1, the Wire is cut only once adjacent the slot 46 but is not cut in the area adjacent the slot. 47, partly because of the relief 49 and partly because of the extraordinary width of the slot 47.

It can be seen that the constructions of the present invention provide a very strong device which will not wear out easily and which will not be distorted in its operating relationship by continuous use with wire ofheavy gauge. The cutting will be quite accurate and only one cut from the wire will be made. Furthermore, the ends of the wire will not be distorted.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material spirit thereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to the exact. form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent, is:

Pliers, comprising (a) an elongated handle having spaced parallel flanges extending in the same direction,

(b) a fixed jaw attached to one end of the handle,

(0) a pivoted member pivotally attached to the handle and movable between the said flanges,

(d) a movable jaw attached to the pivoted member and facing toward the fixed jaw,

(e) actuator means connected to the pivoted member to move the movable jaw toward the fixed jaw,

(f) a narrow first slot entering one of the flanges adjacent the fixed jawand having straight side edges which terminate in a semi-circular end edge, one of the straight side edges constituting a first cutting edge,

(g) a relatively Wide second slot entering the other flange generally coextensively of the first slot,

(h) a concave curved second cutting edge formed on the pivoted member and located so as to move across the first slot closely adjacent thereto, the second cutting edge facing toward the said first cutting edge with a portion thereof tangential in an open-position with the said ,end edge, so that the Wire to be cut is trapped and pressed against the first cutting edge during the cutting operation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner. 

